Visual Media and its Impact on Singapore Culture 22 November, 2007

Question: What is Singapore culture?

I think when we talk about things like Singapore culture, most of us would readily agree the long queues outside a certain fast-food restaurant for a certain soft toy is a pretty accurate representation. Singapore culture is something that we as Singaporeans can identify with, relate to, be it an activity or an object or an aspect of our day-to-day life, something that is pervasive in local context.

Another question: Is the Merlion representative of Singapore culture?

I don’t think it is the symbol of Singapore culture but it does represent us in some way: it’s confused fusion status that parallels how we mix Western influences with local traditions, its fish-tail representing the fishing village we once were, etc.

The question: So what is the impact of visual media here?

Visual media propagates the coverage of a material, aids in letting something obscure gain global recognition (think Tammy), opens our eyes to sights and happenings near and far away (think Iraq War). With the advent of information technology and visual media, we are no longer confined in our little circle of attention.

With the popularisation of blogging and digital photography, we see more and more original media content posted online by the second. The average working class Singaporean will probably own either a camera phone or a digital camera. Students have taken to “photo-whoring” (Incessant photo-taking) of themselves or their everyday life, and then posting them online for all to see.

Visual media has greatly impacted Singapore culture seeing that we have embraced it as a way of life. The manipulation and utilisation of visual media becomes part of Singapore culture. Online video sites, blogging are just some of the ways we express ourselves to the web-surfing audience. We have taken on the role of content creators, something that was only restricted to a privileged few in the past with the resources.

The Merlion goes global with the help of visual media and the world gets a glimpse of Singapore culture. Maybe not a well-informed glimpse but nevertheless…